YUGO GBR GOES WITH THE FLOW

Writers grow through travelling, trips and adventures. Yugo is no exception, and we caught up with the GBR man on a recent trip to Barcelona as you might have already seen on our Instagram reel. We took the opportunity to try to get to the man behind the pieces.

Your name comes from Yugoslavia, right? What relationship do you have with that country? How has that affected your graffiti?
My choice of moniker has something to do with my family origins, however, it is probably more of a lifestyle thing to be honest.

In other interviews we’ve read that you consider graffiti as an activity of constant learning, what do you mean by that?
In order to further develop myself I always aim to put myself and my work to the test, consequently I began painting characters, which I had neglected to do for a while.

In your pieces, you challenge several of the rules of graffiti, even though your style is classic to an extent. Where is the limit for you of the rules that can be broken and the ones that can’t?
I quite like it when everything isn’t a perfect fit, so I’m not particularly perturbed if my painting ends up a little crooked or skewed. Therefore on the odd occasion, I like to place highlights where they don’t belong just for shits and giggles! If you look at old Sento pieces and look at his highlights in particular, he executed them in a fashion that I find very inspiring.

Characters seem very important in your graffiti without being central. What’s your opinion of the role of characters in the pieces?
If I find one that suits the piece perfectly then that’s great, however, even if that’s not the case, I don’t mind really.

One of the things that you like is traveling. How important has travel been in the evolution of your style?
I’m pretty inspired by both travelling and meeting new people.

Characters seem very important in your graffiti without being central. What’s your opinion of the role of characters in the pieces?
If I find one that suits the piece perfectly then that’s great, however, even if that’s not the case, I don’t mind really.

One of the things that you like is traveling. How important has travel been in the evolution of your style?
I’m pretty inspired by both travelling and meeting new people.

Could tell us which crews you’re in, and how significant they are to you.
13ers, BTN, Ghettoblasters, PBS, TRD. If we’re not family then we’re friends.

What stylistic elements link you to the GBR?
I would say my drinking and willingness to party.

After so many years painting, are you aware of the legacy you have left in the graffiti community? Or do you think that the world of graffiti is so large and complex that it is difficult to have any influence on a large scale?
I don’t find that tremendously important.

Is there a philosophy behind your way of painting? Has it changed over the years? How?
I usually prefer to paint a piece in my regular simple throw up style, which in turn allows me to spend more time on colours, characters and the background.

Do you have a goal as a graffiti writer? Or do you just go with the flow?
I just go with the flow!

Wanna check out more adventures of graffiti artists on the road? Check out an interview with Serio EHC here, photos from the far north by Guld Vittring here and Ibes hitting the Balkans here.